Engaging Ideas - 2/17/2017

Every week we curate stories and reports on complex issues. This week: How the U.S. government works and a story of a park thatís come to symbolize rising inequality. A new study on teacher collaboration and satisfaction in relation to student achievement. Why institutional action is essential to tackling college transfer problems. And articles on the cost and psychology of saving for health care.

Our
expectations of what civic engagement looks like donít match reality. Can we
fix that? (Vox)The
election of Donald Trump has reawakened peopleís desire to engage in politics.
People are eager to be connected to others who also want to make their voices
heard. Activists on both the right and the left are fired up: They want to join
civil society organizations, participate in their town hall meetings, protest,
and engage with social media whenever an all-too-powerful executive seems to be
infringing upon their liberties or attempting to roll back progress. They want
to be part of something bigger.

Death
to the Gerrymander (Slate)It
has become painfully clear in recent years that partisan gerrymandering is one
of American democracyís worst illnesses. Although the Supreme Court held
decades ago that the purpose of redistricting was to ensure ďfair and effective
representation for all citizens,Ē legislators often use the process to lock the
minority party out of power.

Opportunity/Inequality

Whatís
Limiting Upward Economic Mobility? (SF Fed Blog)Work
hard and youíll achieve success and have a higher income than your parents.
Thatís the American dream. Yet thousands of struggling Americans are realizing
that determination isnít always enough, and itís difficult to get ahead when
youíre always behind. Here are five important things to know about economic
mobility challenges holding people back.

How to
Solve Income Inequality (US News & World Report)This
increasingly gratuitous income inequality gap is contributing to global
poverty, health crises, crime and the slow death of class mobility, the
backbone of the American dream. So, how can society change to narrow this
wealth gap?

The
High Line's Next Balancing Act (CityLab)The
famed ďlinear parkĒ may be a runaway success, but itís also a symbol of
Manhattanís rising inequality. Can its founder help other cities learn from its
mistakes?

K-12 Education

Study: Teacher
Satisfaction, Collaboration Are Keys to Student Achievement (Education Week)The study, published this month
in the American Journal of Education, was conducted by Neena Banerjee, an
assistant professor of public administration at Valdosta State University, and
three professors of sociology and public policy from the University of North
Carolina at Charlotte. The study used data from the Early Childhood
Longitudinal Survey, which followed a nationally representative sample of
children from kindergarten in 1998 through middle school. That survey had also
asked the children's teachers questions about their overall job satisfaction
and the extent of teachers' collaboration with other teachers.

Scientists
Take on New Roles in K-12 Classrooms (Education Week)As
schools work to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, practicing
scientists are also rethinking how they work with schools to advance
understanding of their field.

Maybe
College Isn't the Great Equalizer (Inside Higher Ed)A
study links family income growing up to postgraduation income -- even after
controlling for many factors. Other researchers disagree. The study is by Dirk
Witteveen, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City
University of New York, and Paul Attewell, a distinguished professor in
sociology at the Graduate Center. Their work has just been published in the
journal Social Forces (abstract
available here). Their study differs with a recent, much publicized
study finding that college is in fact the great equalizer, but the
professors behind that study question some of the methodology in this new work.

Health Care

The
high cost of health care (KRCG, Missouri)The
thought of having a procedure done, or even going to a doctor can be stressful,
especially if you don't know how much it's going to cost you. For many people,
the cost of health care can get confusing.